After two weeks of flirting, Towers stays with Padres

SAN DIEGO -- So much for the notion that Padres general manager Kevin Towers can't coexist with Sandy Alderson.

Towers will remain with the Padres following a hectic two-week stretch in which he interviewed for the Arizona Diamondbacks' GM job, was considered to have a shot at filling the vacant job with the Boston Red Sox and was sought by the rival Los Angeles Dodgers for their GM opening.

Towers said he is not a candidate for the Boston job, and told the Dodgers, through Alderson, that he doesn't want to interview
with them.

After hearing his named linked to other jobs, Towers told
Alderson, the Padres' chief executive officer, that he was
staying put.

"After what I went through with Arizona, the last four or five
days, they were crazy with all the speculation out there," Towers
said Thursday night before the Padres' annual awards dinner. "I
don't think it was fair to this organization. One thing I want to
make clear is that I wasn't throwing my name out there. It got to
the point where it didn't stop."

Towers said the speculation about his job status was largely of
his own doing. Alderson and owner John Moores gave the Diamondbacks
permission to interview Towers, leading many to believe that with
Alderson in charge of the franchise, Towers was no longer needed
after 10 years as GM.

Towers interviewed in Phoenix on Oct. 19, but the job went to
Josh Byrnes, who had been an assistant to Theo Epstein in Boston.

"This was draining. Our season was draining, and then to go
into the offseason, and between what happened in Arizona and then
all this speculation, I'm the one to blame," Towers said. "I
created that by letting Sandy and John know that I wanted to go
talk to Arizona. By that happening, I think everybody else said,
'The guy's available now.' I'm to blame for creating this
speculation."

Towers, under contract with the Padres through 2007, said he
interviewed with Arizona because he felt there may have been more
long-term security with the Diamondbacks.

"I think after going through that process and coming back and
having a chance to kind of reflect on a lot of the positives, I
came to the realization that I had it pretty good in San Diego,"
said Towers, who's led the Padres to three NL West titles and one
World Series in his tenure. "This was the organization that
drafted me, made me scouting director and the GM at a very young
age, an organization that has stuck with me through some very
difficult times."

When Epstein quit as Red Sox GM on Monday, Towers instantly
became linked to that job because of his history with Boston CEO
Larry Lucchino. While San Diego's CEO, Lucchino promoted Towers
from scouting director to GM in November 1995.

Towers' control over the Padres' baseball operations have been
in question since Alderson was hired on May 1 and given a minority
ownership interest. Alderson worked in the commissioner's office
before coming to San Diego, and prior to that was GM and president
of the Oakland A's.

"I think Kevin's critical to our baseball operations,"
Alderson said. "Going into next season we're going to have as
strong a baseball operations staff as any club in baseball, and it
starts with Kevin."

Saying he's relieved and energized, Towers already has started
to reshape a team that limped into the playoffs at 82-80 and was
swept by the St. Louis Cardinals.